Tesla Jumps as Stifel Projects Share Price to Reach $400

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Tesla Motors Inc. rose to a record
high after a Stifel Nicolaus & Co. report cited the electric-car
maker’s increasing production and said it may be worth $400 a
share even before it starts making a lower-priced model.

Tesla advanced 5.3 percent today to $284.12, the highest
closing price since the Palo Alto, California-based carmaker’s
initial public offering in June 2010. The stock had previously
closed at a record on Aug. 29, the most recent trading day.

The company “appears to have carved out a defensible niche
in the global market for luxury electric vehicles, and based on
our recent tour of the Fremont, CA, facility, a sizable head
start with respect to production,” James Albertine, an equity
analyst with Stifel, wrote in a note to investors on Sept. 1.
Tesla is “on track (if not ahead of plan) to achieving a 1,000
unit per week production rate by year-end 2014,” said
Albertine, who upgraded his rating on Tesla to buy from hold,
with a target price of $400.

Shares of the youngest publicly traded U.S. automaker have
been on a rapid ascent of late, soaring 89 percent this year.
The carmaker named for inventor Nikola Tesla is increasing sales
of premium Model S sedans, priced from $71,000 in the U.S., to
China and preparing to start deliveries in Japan. The company
also plans to add the Model X electric sport-utility vehicle in
2015 and the Model 3, a smaller, more affordable premium sedan
by 2017.